1. Skills as a Lever for European Competitiveness
Skills development is one of the central priorities of the European Union to support the competitiveness, social cohesion, and resilience of the single market. Investing in skills means creating an economy capable of adapting to the challenges of the green and digital transition.
The European Skills Strategy promotes an integrated vision of sustainable growth based on knowledge and innovation. The objective is to bridge the gap between skills supply and demand, which is particularly evident today in the technological, energy, and manufacturing sectors. According to the European Commission, over 75% of EU businesses struggle to find qualified workers, while less than half of the adult population regularly participates in training pathways.
The role of the European Commission in skills is based on the provisions of the Treaties of the European Union, which assign the EU a supporting and coordinating competence in the field of education, vocational training, and employment policies (Articles 6 and 165-166 TFEU). Education remains a primary competence of the Member States, which retain responsibility for defining the content, organization, and management of their own educational and training systems. However, the Commission promotes cooperation, convergence, and mobility between national systems, encouraging the sharing of good practices and the adoption of common standards of quality and qualification recognition.
Through instruments such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), Europass, and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the Commission supports skills transparency and worker mobility across the EU. Furthermore, European skills policy integrates with employment and industrial strategies, promoting the reskilling and upskilling of workers to adapt to technological and environmental changes.
A fundamental pillar of this action is the strengthening of VET - Vocational Education and Training, considered essential to provide young people and adults with practical skills that are easily spendable in the labour market. The Commission, through the Copenhagen Cooperation Framework and the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET, promotes modern, inclusive, and flexible vocational training systems, integrating training pathways with real work experiences (work-based learning).
In this context, the Herning Declaration represented a decisive step: signed by European ministers of education and vocational training together with the European Commission, it reaffirms the common commitment to make vocational training an engine for the green and digital transition, emphasizing the importance of investing in quality, digitalized, innovation-oriented training pathways accessible to all. The Declaration lays the groundwork for closer cooperation between Member States, businesses, chambers of commerce, and training centres, promoting VET systems capable of dynamically responding to the skills needs of European productive sectors.
The New European Skills Agenda, presented by the Commission in 2020, represents the reference framework for all European initiatives in this area. It defines 12 flagship actions to stimulate lifelong learning, promote VET, support reskilling and upskilling, improve skills intelligence, and strengthen public-private cooperation through the Pact for Skills.
The European Year of Skills (2023) marked a political and communicative turning point, reinforcing the message that lifelong learning is the key to employability, innovation, and inclusion. The EU encourages the creation of skills ecosystems that unite public institutions, businesses, training bodies, and social partners to develop a workforce ready for the ongoing industrial transformations. The Commission promoted initiatives linked to Learning Accounts, i.e., individual learning accounts that allow every citizen to accumulate training rights throughout their life, guaranteeing equitable and continuous access to training. A further step towards more flexible and accessible learning is represented by micro-credentials, an innovative tool introduced by the New European Skills Agenda and formalized with the 2022 Council of the EU Recommendation. Micro-credentials certify specific skills acquired through short, targeted, and modular training pathways, which can be offered by universities, vocational training centres, chambers of commerce, or businesses. This approach allows citizens to update or expand their skills quickly, adapting to the needs of the labour market and the green and digital transitions. Furthermore, micro-credentials favour the cross-border recognition of skills and help worker mobility.
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2. Skills and the Green and Digital Transitions
Skills are the engine of the dual green and digital transition that is redefining the European economy. The ability to anticipate and develop new professional profiles is fundamental to guaranteeing sustainable growth and global competitiveness.
The green transition requires specialized professional figures in renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture. These skills contribute to reducing emissions, preserving natural resources, and creating new quality jobs. In parallel, the digital transition requires the spread of IT, analytical, and artificial intelligence skills, but also soft skills related to creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.
To face this challenge, the Commission has promoted initiatives such as the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform and the Green Skills Agenda, which support the retraining of workers and advanced training for new professional profiles. These policies are an integral part of the framework of measures envisaged by the European Green Deal and the Digital Agenda 2030, contributing to a fair and inclusive transition. Digital skills - ranging from the basic use of technologies to programming and artificial intelligence - are at the centre of the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) and find a common reference in DigComp, the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens. This European framework defines five key areas of digital competence, from online communication to cybersecurity, providing a shared basis for the design of training pathways in all Member States.
In parallel, the green dimension of skills is supported by GreenComp, the European Sustainability Competence Framework, which defines the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to live and work sustainably. GreenComp helps training institutes and businesses translate sustainability into concrete skills: from energy efficiency to resource management, from the circular economy to the adoption of responsible behaviours. Together, DigComp and GreenComp represent two essential tools of the new European literacy for the dual transition.
Alongside these tools, the EU uses European funding programs to transform policies into concrete skills development projects. Erasmus+, for example, is now much more than a mobility program: it is a true European laboratory of educational innovation. Through strategic partnerships and alliances for sectoral skills (Alliances for Innovation), Erasmus+ supports the creation of new curricula and training methodologies in line with the emerging needs of the labour market. Universities, training bodies, businesses, and chambers of commerce collaborate to design courses on topics such as the digitalization of SMEs, green entrepreneurship, and skills for Industry 4.0.
In the field of environmental sustainability, the LIFE program plays a complementary role, funding projects that favour the training and adoption of green skills in businesses. LIFE contributes to spreading practices of the circular economy, energy management, and biodiversity protection, creating a direct connection between environmental innovation and professional development. The involved businesses not only improve their environmental performance but also acquire new skills that strengthen competitiveness and reputation in the market.
Horizon Europe also participates in this effort, supporting research and experimentation projects that anticipate the professional profiles of the future. Through Living Labs and innovation partnerships, solutions for training in the field of artificial intelligence, clean technologies, sustainable mobility, and smart tourism are developed.
A key role in the development of digital skills is played by the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH), centres funded by the EU under the Digital Europe program to support the digital transformation of businesses and public administrations. EDIHs act as one-stop shops for innovation, offering training, test-before-invest, and technology consultancy services, particularly for SMEs. Through targeted upskilling and reskilling pathways, these hubs favour the spread of skills in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud, cybersecurity, and data management, helping to bridge the digital divide between territories and productive sectors.
Together, these tools - from reference frameworks to initiatives and funding programs - outline an integrated European ecosystem for skills. A system in which every business and every citizen can access modular, recognized, and targeted training pathways, and in which businesses are encouraged to invest in people as a strategic resource for innovation and sustainable transition.
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3. The Pact for Skills
The Pact for Skills is the flagship initiative of the European Commission to promote large-scale partnerships between businesses, training bodies, public authorities, and social partners, with the objective of strengthening the training and retraining of the European workforce.
Launched in 2020 as part of the New European Skills Agenda, the Pact encourages all actors to subscribe to concrete commitments (pledges) to train and update workers and entrepreneurs. Signatories commit to sharing resources, defining common objectives, and measuring progress achieved, contributing to the construction of a more dynamic, inclusive, and innovative European labour market.
The Pact is implemented through Large-Scale Skills Partnerships (LSP), which operate in the 14 industrial ecosystems identified by the European Industrial Strategy: aerospace and defence; agri-food; construction; social and proximity economy; electronics; renewable energy; mobility; textiles; health; tourism; culture and creative industries; retail; digital; and low environmental impact systems. These partnerships involve over 2,000 organizations across Europe - including businesses, universities, public bodies, chambers of commerce, and training organizations - and have the ambitious goal of guaranteeing the annual training of millions of European citizens by 2030.
The LSPs are not only cooperation platforms but represent privileged places where organizations can find partners for European projects, share skills intelligence tools, co-create curricula, be informed about funding linked to major EU programs (such as Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, and Digital Europe). Through transnational collaboration, LSPs contribute to aligning training with the emerging needs of European industries, strengthening the competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience of productive sectors.
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4. Cross-Cutting European Skills Policies
European policies on employment, education, innovation, and social inclusion are closely connected to skills development.
The European Pillar of Social Rights recognizes the right of every European citizen to quality education and training throughout their lives, laying the foundations for a fairer, prepared, and more cohesive Europe. The related Action Plan for the Social Pillar sets concrete objectives to be achieved by 2030, including the commitment to involve at least 60% of European adults in training activities every year, and to reduce the share of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) below 15%.
In this framework, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) represents the main financial instrument to support these objectives. With a budget of over €99 billion for the period 2021-2027, the ESF+ funds interventions aimed at improving access to training, strengthening the quality of educational systems, and promoting inclusion in the labour market. The Fund helps translate European strategies into concrete actions in the territories, supporting upskilling and reskilling programs in strategic industrial sectors, training pathways for the green and digital transitions, and initiatives for the integration of vulnerable groups and people with low qualifications.
The ESF+ connects directly to the implementation of the Pact for Skills and the Large-Scale Skills Partnerships (LSP), funding training and cooperation activities at the local and regional level. In this way, the Fund ensures that the European dimension of skills policies is rooted in the territories, favouring the creation of local learning ecosystems and public-private partnerships for training innovation.
Alongside this instrument, the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) and the European Education Area encourage the modernization of education and vocational training (VET) systems, promoting digital and cooperative teaching methodologies. These initiatives aim to make training more accessible, inclusive, and in line with the needs of an evolving labour market.
In parallel, programs such as EURES and Europass support the mobility of workers and students, facilitating the recognition of qualifications and professional experiences between Member States. These tools promote a true European dimension of skills, in which citizens can learn, work, and grow in any country of the Union.
5. European Programs and Tools for Skills
European skills policies today are articulated in a context strongly oriented towards the two transitions: green and digital. In particular, the European Skills Agenda recognizes that the Green Deal and digitalization require a redefinition of professional profiles and continuous training.
Areas such as renewable energy, clean mobility, circular economy, energy efficiency, and data-driven management become central, and the demand for hybrid skills (technical, digital, environmental) explodes. The policies of the European Commission then move with integrated tools that seek to accelerate the adaptation of skills to new needs.
Among these tools are the Skill Academies (sometimes referred to as Industry Skills Academies or EU Skills Academies), which the Union has included among the priority actions to link industry with training centres and which are part of the roadmap and actions that fall under the Net-Zero Industry Act. These structures are designed to function as specialized training hubs, where businesses, universities, and training providers collaborate to develop curricula with high technological content, upskilling/reskilling pathways, and innovative training modules responsive to emerging industrial needs.
Once again, in support of these strategies, European programs play a crucial role:
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Erasmus+ funds strategic partnerships and transnational cooperation projects that allow the co-design of new curricula oriented towards digital and environmental challenges. Universities, VET institutes, and businesses collaborate to experiment with hybrid learning models, training mobility, and the exchange of good practices.
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LIFE, particularly in its environmental components, supports projects that not only implement green innovations but also include training pathways for businesses: training on circular economy practices, environmental monitoring, clean and renewable technologies. In this way, LIFE contributes to "cultivating" the green skills needed by the business fabric.
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Horizon Europe facilitates the experimentation of advanced learning models, the adoption of emerging technologies (AI, digital twins, intelligent systems), and supports innovation networks that integrate training and technological development.
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Digital Europe Programme (DEP) can fund components of advanced training in areas such as cloud, cybersecurity, data analysis, and digital infrastructure, helping to bridge the digital divide in territories and among SMEs.
These programs act in synergy: the Skill Academies emerge as points of convergence, where resources, best practices, and skills are incubated and disseminated. They represent a bridge that connects the world of research and innovation with the world of education and technical training, reducing the time between the design of abilities and their real application in companies.
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6. The Future Perspective: The Union of Skills
The evolution of European skills policies today aims at an even more integrated and strategic vision: the Union of Skills, a roadmap published on March 5, 2025.
The objective of the Union of Skills is to create a single market for skills, parallel and complementary to the single market for goods and services. It aims to stably connect educational systems, businesses, chambers of commerce, and training bodies, ensuring that acquired skills are recognized, transferable, and usable throughout the Union.
The Union of Skills will represent a platform for governance and coordination of European initiatives in the field of training and employment, favouring convergence between existing tools (EQF, Europass, DigComp, GreenComp, micro-credentials) and integrating them into a European digital skills ecosystem. This ecosystem will allow citizens to autonomously manage their own "skills profile," certify micro-credentials, and access personalized training offers, while businesses will be able to identify talents and professional needs in real-time thanks to shared skills intelligence data. This process, however, can only be realized through soft law instruments - such as recommendations, common frameworks, and voluntary partnerships - because education and training remain primary competences of the Member States. The European Commission, therefore, does not impose harmonization but promotes coordination, convergence, and mutual recognition between national systems, facilitating the gradual construction of a true European skills area based on the cooperation and consensus of the Member States.
The Commission plans to establish permanent sectoral partnerships to update training strategies in the main industrial ecosystems, in continuity with the Large-Scale Skills Partnerships of the Pact for Skills, and to strengthen the Skill Academies as central nodes of the network.
Furthermore, cooperation with chambers of commerce and regional authorities will be strengthened to enhance the role of territories as hubs of continuous learning, where businesses and public institutions co-design tailor-made training pathways for local needs.
A fundamental pillar of the Union of Skills will also be the promotion of entrepreneurial skills, considered a key lever for innovation, sustainable growth, and employment. In this area, the Commission will strengthen the EntreComp framework - The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework, which defines the skills necessary to transform ideas into actions of economic and social value. EntreComp identifies three main areas - Ideas and opportunities, Resources, Into action - and twenty competencies ranging from creativity and strategic vision to risk management, collaboration, and sustainability.
Through EntreComp, the Union of Skills intends to encourage entrepreneurship as a transversal competence, integrating it into educational and training programs at all levels and promoting local entrepreneurship ecosystems where institutions, chambers of commerce, universities, and SMEs cooperate to support the birth and growth of new businesses. In line with this vision, the Commission also presented in 2025 a new communication on the European Strategy for Financial Literacy, aimed at integrating basic financial skills into educational and training pathways, favouring more aware citizenship and greater capacity to manage savings, investments, and personal economic decisions.
The Union of Skills finally intends to promote an international dimension of European skills, facilitating partnerships with third countries to attract talent, improve the mobility of qualified workers, and support Europe's global competitiveness.
In this framework, initiatives on talent migration, Learning Accounts, and micro-credentials recognized at the EU level will be integrated into a common strategy, making Europe a hub of attraction for training, innovation, and qualified work.
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